The Legened of Korra: Spark of the Flame
by Placido
Summary: Born as a firebender, Zola bears the burden at twice the power. As her story is set into motion, who will she encounter? Who are her friends and which ones are her enemies? Torn between right and wrong, friendship and belief eventually she will have to choose. Team Avatar, or equality?
1. Chapter 1

**C****hapter 1: A Day in Republic City**

The streets were crowded, filled with small shops and nearby citizens. The warm sun pulsed around the busy city, making the ground burn the bottom of her feet. Her heavy clothes made it even warmer, considering that practically every part of her skin was hidden. The streets, usually slightly overrun, were more crowded than usual. Were there more civilians in the city than usual? It nearly made Zola feel claustrophobic, not to mention the fact a ragged grey scarf was wrapped around her face, only showing her ember eyes and black treases. Looking around the busy streets, Zola took in every small food stands there, wondering to see what they sold today.

Some were selling fruits and vegetables, trying to earn a few yuans for their families. Some sold clothing or jewlery. Most of these sellers tried to trade their merchandise to the civilians for far more yuans than it was worth but people needed to live. As for the faces around the streets, they were all weary, nearly all of them. The merchants were the only ones that weren't weary. Of course not, they needed to look convincing to be able to sell their merchandise to the 'simpleminded' citizens, like Zola.

Walking up close to one of the shops, her foot 'accidentally' tripped over the footing of the apple basket and made all the apples fall on the ground. The merchant looked at her petrified and angry. "My apologies sir," Zola said softly, kneeling down to begin picking up the apples.

"You better apologize! These are my best apples!" He bellowed, bending down and picking some of the apples that fell away from the basket. When the merchant didn't look, Zola snuck a few apples in her large one shoulder bag, placing it with the bread and other types of food she had stolen from the town shops.

As you may have noticed, Zola was a thief. She needs to steal to be able to live. Her parents died when she was simply a child and had to take care of herself on the streets, barely any clothes or blankets. Zola didn't live properly but, hey, it was life. There was nothing anyone could change about that factor.

The merchant seemed to have noticed what Zola had been doing and he grabbed her wrist, dragging her to her feet angrily. "You little thief! Give me back my apples before I call the metalbenders!" He screamed at her, his words spitting saliva in her face. A sense of disgust filled her and her mind kicked into escape mode.

In Republic City, if you were caught stealing any sort of food or even anything in particular, they would throw you behind metal bars for a very long time. Zola couldn't take that risk.

Using her hands defensively, she twisted her hand out of his and struck the bone of her palm into the merchant's chin, sending his head snapping backwards. Her other hand, now turned into a fist, punched him in the stomach, making him double over and hearing a grunt or a groan—his words were muffled by his clothes when he doubled over—come from his mouth. When he wasn't able to see her, she took off running.

Unfortunately, most of the civilians around her in the market had seen her and instantly began calling Zola a thief, attracting the attention of the police around them. Luckily, there were only four of them around the market area that heard the screaming and began pursuing her.

She just kept running until she ran into someone, and fell resulting in her scarf to fall away from her face. Looking up she sees a young women about seventeen looking down at her on the ground with a confused expression. Zola guessed she was a waterbender by just looking at her water tribe garb. Also she was with a very huge polar bear dog by her side which was only found in the Southern Water Tribe. The huge polar bear dog sniffed her, and licked her face. It liked her. Zola was astonished; she had never seen a huge polar bear dog in her entire life.

"Naga! Down girl!" The water tribe girl grabs hold of Naga's reins to pull her off the girl who had a petrified look on her face.

"I'm so sorry. I'm usually not that clumsy." The brown haired teen said, as she spotted a piece of gold twinkling in the sunlight on the ground and picked it up. "I think you dropped this."

There was no time for response as footsteps were quickly approaching. "Catch that thief!" Zola wrapped her scarf around her face the second time that day, and bolted to her feet taking off running at the sound as she slid past the water tribe girl.

"What are you running from?" The water tribe girl asked, but before she could look up the girl who had dropped her necklace had disappeared.

"What's up with her?" Korra murmured.

Using her abilities to the fullest, her speed was quicker than the metalbenders and it allowed Zola to run faster towards any wall in her reach. In front of her, there was a wall with metal poles sticking out every five meters along the wall close to the roof. Picking up her speed, Zola ran full speed onto a wall, running along its wall and grabbed a pole with her right hand. Swinging her body vertically up, Sola's feet landed on the next pole. Swinging the rest of her body upwards and letting go of the pole, she began jumping, one foot on each pole, having the metalbenders run underneath her as she ran on the poles.

Suddenly Zola felt the bottom of her feet moving beneath her. Realizing it was metal she panicked as the each metal pole was torn from under her by their metalbending. However Zola kept up as each pole behind her was torn away. Once the poles came to an end, Zola jumped onto the roof and began running. Unfortunately, the metalbenders found a way onto the roof and began running after her, screaming things such as 'Catch her and bind her with your bending!' or 'Catch the street urchin!' and even 'Stop right where you are!' Like hell she would. Zola didn't listen to any of them and just kept on running, her bag of apples against her chest. The roof ended and her legs squatted down and, with one push of her legs, Zola's entire body jumped in the air and made the three feet gap between the two buildings. The metalbenders tried to make the jump but three quarters of them fell in between the gap and the other quarter tried hanging onto the railing with their bending with no such luck.

Landing on her knee, Zola straightened up and began running again, not tempting to be outrun or caught by the fallen metalbending police in case they found her again. Luckily, they didn't. After a few more minutes of running and leaping off buildings, Zola imagined that her surroundings were safe. Looking at her surroundings, Zola's eyes detected no oncoming threats. Seeing that it was safe for the time being, she walked towards the edge of the roof and jumped off, landing gracefully on her feet. There was a small family of three huddled up in a dark corner near Zola, looking famished and watching their surroundings. They seemed so hungry… It looked like they hadn't fed in a few days. How could they live this way?

Zola already knew the answer to that question. Some families in this city could barely afford food and once they did collect a few yuans, they had their children fed before themselves. Children always came first with parents… Wonder what that felt like. To have someone care for you the way a parent would. Or even have some nearby citizens give you something to help yourselves. Mostly around here benders were the necessity. If you were a bender looking for a job, some would hire you within a minute of the snap of their fingers. But for those who were average non-benders most of the population was under the poverty line and found it harder to find a job while the minority of non-benders who were wealthy beyond their years was quite lucky.

Looking down at her bag, Zola saw seven apples in her bag. Looking back towards the family, her mind took the decision for her. Walking slowly over to them, they looked up at Zola the minute she crouched in front of them. Smiling slightly, her hand went into her bag and collected three apples, one for each of them. Giving them the apples, a large smile formed on their faces as they took the fruit.

"Thank you Miss!" A small child said and bit into the apple slightly, savoring the taste. It might be the last thing the child eats for a little while. The family began to eat and it was Zola's cue to leave. Standing up straight, she nodded to them and smiled before walking away towards her secret hiding spot. An alley so battered and old looking it looked abandoned. She walked catuously into the alley, looking around.

"It took you long enough," A voice came from behind her.

Looking back, Zola was face to face with, Skoochy, who leant against the empty crumbling wall. Since Zola started living on the streets the two had depended on one another too many times to count. Sometimes, it would get them in trouble with the metalbenders but they always got out of it, one way or another. Every other day, it was his turn to bring the food. He wasn't as stealthy as Zola but he did get the job done and could bring in a few more items, seeing as he was well built and could carry more things than she ever could.

"Sorry, got held up by the metalbenders. And that stupid merchant. He dared yell in front of everyone that I was a thief. Now I won't be able to go out for a while. You'll have to gather the food for a few days as things clear up," Zola declared, throwing him an apple from the bag against her chest. He caught it with ease with his hand and smirked at her.

"Zola, what _are_ we going to do with you?" He asked as she sat down on the dirty ground beside him in the alley, removing the bag from across her shoulders, placing it on the ground before them and biting into an apple.

A smile formed on Zola's lips against the apple and, when swallowing the bite, her eyes turned to him. He was still smirking, even though his face was quite filled with dirt. He had been out giving information today to random strangers. That was the only way to collect any yuans. He gave out information as an informant and it was a dangerous job. Sometimes he'd run across the wrong customer. He would end up fighting in bending street battles and won most of them. His smile today told her that he had won his share of yuans. "I don't know. What are we going to do with that messy face of yours?" Zola said, removing her scarf across her neck and using it to wipe the dirt off his face. Skoochy hated it when she teased him. But he would always tease her back. That was the way orphans had survived for all these years: hardly fighting and helping one another when dire times flew their way.

Zola's laughter turned into giggles as she looked up at the sky. The sun was now setting slowly, turning the warm afternoon into a slightly cold night. Her expression became distant as she bit into the apple once more. Zola's heart was never into stealing from others but it was the only way to survive. Skoochy loved to steal and was proud of what he could earn by the end of the day but that was the difference between them.

She heard Skoochy rummage through the bag and his voice rang in her ears when he spoke. "Zola, how come there's less a load today as there usually is?" He asked curiously, making her face him for a second before slowly looking down. A groan escaped his lips. "Zola!"

"What? A family was just there! They looked so starved! You know how I am!"

"Zola, ya gotta think of yourself before others. You can't give everything ya earn to others when ya see em sufferin," Skoochy said. "It's every man for emselves. You need to think of yaself before others. I've told ya that countless times."

"And I never listen. I know," Zola said, looking away from him sadly. They both sighed deeply. Looking at the night sky fall, they both ate their apples in silence, thinking of what the next day would bring them. Their eyes met and both looked thoughtful. It's getting late," Zola said, yawning as the events of the day finally took its toll on her body.

"Me too. I'll catch ya later, doll," Skoochy said. Looking at him walk away, he looked like a lost soul. He deserved more than this life as well. Anyone in this city did. But there wasn't much anyone could do to change their lives. Not even herself.

"Later, Skooch," she whispered to Skoochy before looking outside into the starry night.

When nightfall came, Zola huddled into the corner of the empty park and placed her arms around herself, keeping slightly warm in this cold temperature. It was the only thing she could find to keep her head rested at night.

Zola's dream was to live as a rich person in a big house where she could help others with her fortune. Her dream included all the orphans. But luck wasn't on her side. It was never on her side. She lived as a 'street urchin' as the metalbenders would call them, nothing more. It would always be like that. Nothing would change it.

Many stars shone and illuminated the city. Zola's eyes fell on one and immediately, her eyes closed, granting her wish for the day before looking back at the star. It became a daily routine to wish upon a star, making the same wish as usual. _I wish I could live differently, in a place where I wouldn't live as street urchin. I would live safely. I want a family. _was her last thought before falling into a deep slumber, imagining herself rich and wealthy, living with loved ones and much food at her disposal.

She wouldn't have to steal to live. She wouldn't have to live on the streets in fear that someone could attack her in her sleep. She wouldn't have to stay out in the sun with barely any water or food. She would be able to live freely and happily.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: The Blue Eye Stranger**

**With Zola**

The days went by and Skoochy was forced to go and buy their food supply. Zola tried to stay inconspicuous in the streets but it was quite hard. Practically every corner she turned, a metalbender would pass by and in an instant, and her body would be hidden in the shadows, waiting for the officer to pass by. It was a difficulty getting through the streets but, thanks to Skoochy, they were able to survive for the next few days as the excitement seemed to die down after nearly a week.

C'mon Zola, wake up!" said Skoochy, lightly shaking her with the heal of his foot.

In the morning, Zola woke up to the sun shining in her face with Skoochy looking down at her. Zola's eyes squinted to the light, as it did every morning, and yawned.

"Mornin sleepy head," A voice said. Zola grinned up at him and stood up, stretching her body.

"Skoochy? What are you doing here?"

Shrugging, looking off into the distance of the crowded streets. "Came to find ya." Skoochy didn't answer her question and looked at her worriedly. "Ready?" he asked, holding out his other hand for Zola to take.

Nodding. "Yea, I'm ready to go whenever you are." Zola gave Skoochy a reassuring smile.

The sun began to rise higher in the horizon and the markets would soon open. "Well, time for us to do our thing," Zola said, her small smile plastered on her face still. Skoochy nodded and began walking out of the alley, and running into the street to Central Station.

Backing up to the far end of a building, Zola's body faced the wall with the small ramp leaning against it. With one swift motion, her legs began pushing into a sprint and she ran onto the rail and when there was no more room to run, her legs crouched and she jumped, catching the edge of the roof of building four feet away. Pulling herself up, her whole body was on the roof and the moment her feet were firmly planted on the roof, Zola began running towards the market in hopes of catching a few good things today.

Later on as Zola made her way further downtown, at the market, it wasn't as populated as most days but it was still full. And there were merchants of all kinds today, even jewelry. Taking even a golden bracelet would afford a good meal. It was perfect.

_'My lucky day.'_

Slipping through two building, Zola placed her scarf around her face and walked into the slightly busy market. It had been a while since her last theft and not one merchant seemed to remember her eyes—since it was the only thing they had seen that day—which was a good thing. Passing by the merchant for the apples, he was bargaining with a lady, giving Zola an opportunity to discreetly place two apples in her bag without anyone knowing.

Along the way, towards the jewelry booth, a woman began speaking with the merchant about the price of a certain necklace. This seemed just too easy of a picking. Along the way, Zola had been able to pick pocket a few yuans off a merchant and take a few dumplings. Now, all that was needed was to grab the jewelry and the day would be complete.

But knowing her luck, there would be trouble soon.

Approaching the booth normally, Zola began looking through the jewelry, seeming interested in the merchandise. The merchant began making his way towards her but out of nowhere, a large bang was heard close by, grabbing the merchant's attention. It was a good distraction but who had done it? Nevertheless, her hand reached towards a magnificent silver necklace and her gloved fingers wound around it, quickly pulling it into her bag and walking away.

Unfortunately, it wasn't quick enough.

The merchant saw her actions and began screaming: "Hey! Someone grab her! She's stealing my jewelry!"

And that's when the chase began.

The metalbenders heard the merchant's cries and began running in Zola's direction. Zola's legs began pushing against the hard concrete and her speed gave her an advantage over the metalbenders once again. Running at a very quick speed, they tried their best to catch up to Zola but just when she thought they had fallen behind, a swoosh sound was heard and Zola found herself on the ground. A metal cable. One of the metal like cables had wrapped itself around her right leg she fell forward with a yelp. They had metal on hand. Not good. Suddenly another big bang was heard like the last time and the metalbenders turned to look resulting in the metal to slack a little, Zola took this as her chance to run when they were distracted. Getting up to run. Zola slipped out of its hold on her ankle and ran. Before turning a corner a retractable metal blade cable out and sliced into her arm at last minute tearing the fabric of her sleeve. Zola would need to get to higher ground.

Running against a wall, her left hand grabbed a wooden pillar and her legs swung up in the air, swinging on the pillar. Zola's body propelled itself in the air and landed on a roof in a tuck-and-roll. Cradling right arm to her chest, she tried running as quickly as possible. The police continued to try and bind her with their retractable metal cables but with no avail. She was just too quick for them.

Suddenly, the roof came to an end and there wasn't a roof anywhere near it. There was no other means of escape. Zola would be forced to jump. So, her legs crouched and, with a strong leap from the ledge, she did another tuck-and-roll and returned to running, even though that last leap had affected her legs slightly.

Turning her head around slightly, the police were close on her tail; their metal cables all wasted but were throwing everything her way with their metalbending around as they ran. Even as Zola ran, they were catching up. This was not good.

But out of nowhere, a thick water whip was launched from the alley they just passed and stuck into the wall to her left just behind her in the form of ice. The metalbenders slammed into the stream of ice hanging nearly three feet in the air and slammed on their backs against the ground. What has just happened? Who saved her?

Suddenly, it was the woman dressed in the water tribe clothes stepped out of the shadows and looked shocked at the metalbender then directed her blue eyes at Zola's still form. It looked like she hadn't even intended to save Zola, more like it was an accident. But it didn't matter to Zola. She was transfixed on escaping. But suddenly, as they looked into each other's eyes, something changed in the older teens blue orbs. Her eyes seemed to change in a positive way. But just as Zola was about to examine what that change was, the metalbenders began to groggily wake up. The stranger looked at them then back at Zola.

"Run!" Her voice rang and there was no hesitation in Zola's movements. She began running again, took the extremely long way back, and avoided all of the metalbenders.

Skoochy was pacing when Zola run towards the fire lord Zuko statue holding her bad arm. When seeing Zola, Skoochy sighed in relief. "Finally… what took ya so long? It's good they didn't get ya. I thought my distraction would have saved ya but I was sweat'n when ya didn't come back," Skoochy said with a slight smile.

"That was you…? The bang …? Sorry…" Zola began, panting for breath since she had been running so much. "They nearly did but—" Zola's sentence was cut short by a small cry of pain when trying to take the bag off her shoulders. "Hey, Zola you okay?" Skoochy's tone was worried...extremely worried. The metal blade was still plunged into the upper part of her right arm and gave Zola great pain at the moment. Skoochy rushed over to Zola and his hands hovered near the metal blade.

"They bended at ya?" Skoochy asked worriedly and shocked. When she nodded Skoochy looked around suspiciously to make sure no one was looking and wrapped his arm around Zola's shoulders so they would look casual and walked together into a dark deserted alley to hide.

"Sorry… I couldn't outrun them that quickly… I didn't expect them to have blades…" Skoochy's hand closed around the metal blade and a small cry escaped Zola's lips again, making her close her eyes in pain. In one swift motion, Skoochy took the blade out of her arm and a scream this time escaped Zola's lips. The minute the metal blade was out, Zola's blood began to flow down her arm, staining her clothes. Skoochy lifted Zola's sleeve carefully and wrapped the wound in a torn cloth, possibly from a shirt or a drape lying around their space. "I'm sorry Skooch… I should have been more—"

"Stop it. You have nothin to apologize for. This ain't your fault, alright?" Skoochy said, looking Zola in the eyes after fastening the cloth around the wound. "Heh, you are really such a dummy making yourself so vulnerable sometimes."

"Well, I think I'm going to be inaugurated once you see what I caught today," A small smile slipped onto Zola's face when seeing Skoochy's genuine curiosity. Skoochy helped Zola open the bag and she took the apples, dumplings and finally the necklace that was still intact. Skoochy's eyes went wide and he looked at it delicately. "Do I get some brownie points for getting that plus a few yuans?" Zola asked while showing Skoochy the yuans as well. Skoochy's eyes went wide and a large smile formed itself on his face.

"You get much better than that Zola. You can buy a lot with this!" Skoochy exclaimed. They both laughed and examined Zola's findings until late in the night. Skoochy had asked what had happened back in town and Zola explained everything right up to where the water tribe woman with the polar bear dog showed up and saved her.

The idea of the stranger still dazzled Zola. That must have been the kindest person she had ever seen in her life. But why would someone help someone like her, a street urchin.

But even through the night, Zola couldn't stop thinking about the water tribe girl. Who was she?

* * *

**I just want to say thank you for the reviews! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!**

**Alright so a very important question came up about wether the other characters will be in the story or not. To answer your question. YES. Mako Bolin, and even Asami will be in my story. Practically everyone will be in my story. So now that is out of the way please review! =)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Ember**

**With Korra**

That girl with the ember eyes… She'd been so amazing and fast. It was almost shocking. But just as soon as the girl had run away, the metalbenders began to stand up shakily, still slightly bewildered at the new turn of events. They hadn't expected someone to magically stop them from chasing after the mysterious girl. The metalbenders looked at her and were about to seize her when they noticed who it was, they stopped and began to bow.

"Avatar Korra," Some of the metalbenders said rigidly.

"My apologies in stopping your chase. I was simply practicing," Korra answered, hoping to keep it simple. She could waterbend, or bend all four elements in this case. Her teacher Tenzin and her had been trying their best to learn air bending and the best place to practice was in the real world: out here in the streets.

"It's perfectly alright Avatar Korra. But it may be best if we brought you back to the air temple. It's not safe in these parts of the streets," A metalbender said and unfortunately, they would be stubborn enough to bring her back to the air temple and to Councilman Tenzin. They knew she wouldn't command them unless necessary. In her mind, even as the Avatar, it didn't seem right to command others against their wills. But… she knew that in the future, there would come a time when she would be forced to start commanding them, maybe in a gentle way but still command them.

Nodding, the metalbenders stuck close to Korra as they made their way back to the air temple. It seemed unfair that all her life, everyone made her stay locked up, like a prisoner. But she was the Avatar. What would stop her from going out into town for a few hours when she is the Avatar? Nothing. But as the Avatar, everyone can stop her, even the metalbenders.

Sighing, they arrived at the air temple in no time whatsoever. Frankly, the metalbenders and Korra weren't that far off from the air temple in the beginning and so, her journey back was short. "Here we are, Avatar Korra," One of the metalbenders said as the left her in front of the air temple gates alone. Rolling her eyes, Korra walked inside and walked past more guards. They infested the palace. Korra's parents, Tenzin, and everyone didn't want anything horrible to happen, always precautions. Unnecessary precautions. But they are a large family: Tenzin, Pema, two girls Jinora and Ikki and a little boy named Mello. Quite the large family if you asked her.

While walking, a certain voice echoed through the hallway. "Hello Korra."

Turning around, a silhouette walked out of the shadows of the pillars and approached her softly. The man was bald and had an arrow tattoo, a muscular tall form with blue eyes, just like his mother, Katara. "Tenzin, I didn't see you there," Korra said, looking her airbending teacher straight in the eyes. Tenzin was slightly taller than her, a nice 6'3". It made him look much superior to her.

He looked her over, looked back at his pupil and sighed. "You must stop this."

"Stop what exactly?"

"This… this method of fighting that you seem to be attached to these days. Going outside the air temples walls is dangerous and you seem to be seeking danger. Korra, what would your parents say if they heard what you do in your past time?" Tenzin asked, never removing his gaze from hers. He had known about her going and sneaking off to pro-bending matches for a while but never seemed to have brought it up until this moment. Tenzin was more the quiet type, staying with his wife Pema and meditating in the garden half of the time. But he was quite the sneaky one, always suspecting. Tenzin always asked her questions when she tried to leave the air temple and normally would talk her out of leaving, which wasn't practical for her. "Korra, if you feel the need to express yourself in this practice, why not do so in the air temple? It's inside the walls and better for your protection," Tenzin explained.

Sighing, Korra began walking away from her airbending teacher but only to have him follow her in the end. "Tenzin, you need to get out more. Being encaged in this air temple is not good for you. Or any of us. You simply go out when you're needed at the council. But we don't see all that much. Simply some guards since the citizens are mostly in their homes. There's life outside these walls that we're not aware of," Korra explained, looking down at her hands. When looking at them, the image of the girl being chased entered her mind. "There are people out there… Actual people."

"Why must you seek this sort of life Korra? What did you gain by going today? Just a sunburn and…" He saw her expression and seemed to understand something. Her airbending teacher was, in fact, too smart for his own good. "What have you seen today, Korra?"

"A girl… she was being chased by the metalbenders. A thief." Tenzin tsked her but it only made Korra roll her eyes at him. "I'm serious. I might have just seen her eyes but they seemed to compassionate... but also lost, as if something was missing in her life," Korra explained, still looking down at her hands.

"That's normally why thieves are created. They're missing a part of their lives and they try to find themselves by stealing from others."

"But she wasn't like that. It didn't look like she wanted to steal, much less be followed by metalbenders constantly."

"Korra, you saw her for a few minutes, if not seconds. How could you have seen so much of her in simply a few seconds?" Tenzin asked.

Sighing, Korra said "I don't know Tenzin. But… all I know is that there is something about that girl…" Tenzin did have a point. This girl was simply some random girl who was being chased by metalbenders. Why was she becoming so attached to someone that just passed by her? Maybe it was simply that Korra had been in the sun too long. That must be it. A good night's rest will do her some good. "I must be imagining things then…"

"Get some rest Korra. I'll inform Pema that our afternoon dinner will simply be just the five of us. You can rest," Tenzin answered, placing a hand on her shoulder. Looking into his eyes, he nodded and kept his hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you Tenzin. Tell Pema I'm sorry and to have a good time this afternoon during supper," Korra said before walking towards her room slowly. Passing through the halls, the sun was setting, its redness absolutely beautiful as it shined dimly upon the air temple. There was life out of these walls and they were all cooped up here. How was that right? Of course Avatar's needed more protecting but… it wasn't right to be stuck here, which is why Korra snuck out every day in the city, or go to pro-bending matches with Mako and Bolin.

Arriving in her vast room, Korra walked lazily over to the large bed and flopped onto it upon her back. Staring up at the ceiling, those ember eyes kept popping into her mind. This girl… who was she? Their paths would probably never cross again. Why was she so attached to her already? It should not matter. She was in the past now. Korra need to move forward, thoughts away from the mysterious girl.

Sighing, Korra's body turned sideways and her eyes closed. But behind her eyelids, that girl's hidden face came back to Korra.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: C****aught**

**With Zola**

It's been a week since the metalbenders chased Zola and that watertribe women saved her. But during that week, her health seemed to have taken a turn for the worse. A fever had sprung on Zola after a few days and her wound brought pain every once in a while to her system. Today, her body felt weak and the fever hit even harder than the previous day.

Zola lay there panting when suddenly, Skoochy's hand was pressed softly against her shoulder. "Zola? How ya feelin?" He asked softly, kneeling beside her. Opening her eyes slowly and only slightly, Zola's tired eyes met Skoochy's. He brought a small canteen of water to her lips as she drank. A cough escaped her lips when finishing and Skoochy looked at her worriedly. "Zola… Ya sound horrible."

"I feel horrible… This wound is killing me… literally…" _What if this wound did take my life? All the other orphans would be alone in this world, having to deal with all of this by thereselves._ It wouldn't be right, which is why she had to keep fighting against this wound, although it was taking a toll on her system.

"I know, just hang tough, okay?" Replied the brown haired boy,

"I'll…try…" her voice was trembling and cracked, and her body shuddered as she tried to suppress the throbbing in her head.

"This looks bad…" The symptoms had started appearing the minute she came back and Skoochy took the piece of metal out. They had noticed that the tip of the metal had been rusted, making her blood infected. The fever had slowly kicked in during the first night and the wound had begun to bleed green and red. Skoochy had taken care of getting the money and buying the food and now, they only had a small sum of yuans left to buy anything since there weren't many residents out for Skoochy to talk to. Wasn't great for the both of them, that's for sure. "I'm gonna go look for a waterbender." And with that, he ran, dropped out of view and probably began running towards the busy streets.

While she was running out of time.

Who knows if she would be dead by the time Skoochy came back? At the rate her body was giving out, it wouldn't take long before her wound would kill her, maybe in a few minutes or hours but soon, that's for sure. Zola needed that healer _now_ before it was too late.

Standing up painfully, her right arm was cradled against her chest and her left hand was against the wall, balancing herself. Zola's vision blurred slightly but it didn't stop her from limping. Zola's hand went shakily to her hat and she placed it over her head, ready to go out into the streets in hopes of finding some healer or medicine.

Skoochy wouldn't be quick enough to save her. And so she had to do this on her own, although it would probably lead to her death faster. Limping out of the alley, walking out and fell onto on the ground. Hissing at the pain through her arm, Zola slowly got out of the mud and repositioned the hat on her head, trying to hide her face in darkness as much as possible. Cradling her arm to her chest again, body sagged with weakness while standing up. Shaking the weakness off, Zola limped towards the market, leaning against the walls heavily for support.

The streets were packed once again. Many citizens were walking along, minding their own business while others were purchasing their food or house supplies. But there didn't seem to be a healer in sight. _Great…_ More digging for her to do and not a lot of time. All this movement was taking a large toll on her. Panting, Zola limped towards the crowd but something seemed to grab everyone's attention. Someone bumped into her and even in her right arm, making Zola scream out in pain. There were so many people that were backing up that her hat accidentally fell off.

Suddenly, Zola's eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

Several metalbender marched under the archway, metal cables at their waist and a hand on their weapon. But what followed them was the shocking part. Three people followed the guards, slowly and steadily. The chief of police was at the lead of the two of them and the two followed.

One of them was the watertribe woman.

Her brown hair flowed in the slight wind and she looked around, eyeing the the bald man with the arrow on his head and what Zola assumed was her father or a friend beside her. Her blue eyes surveyed the marketplace, looking for some excitement to start probably. But then, her blue eyes fell upon Zola. She froze and so did everyone else. They stared at one another, just locking gazes.

"It's you…" Her lips said as the Avatar continued to look at her. Her companion seemed to have caught onto what s_he_ was saying and looked around, finally landing on Zola. The Avatar with the brown pony tail looked her over and realization seemed to enter blue eyes.

"The thief…?" The bald man with the arrow on his head said, making the police look around and finally land upon Zola. Oh no…

Zola's eyes widened and her legs responded faster than her brain ever could. She tried running but her legs weren't fast enough. Citizens kept getting in her way and the metalbender reconized her and were approaching her quickly. Zola's wound also made running practically impossible. Once the citizens were out of her reach, Zola tried running quicker but the metalbender came at her from all sides, grabbing both wrists behind her back and pinning her to the ground. A large scream erupted from Zola's lips as they pressed against her wounded right arm.

They tied her wrists together behind her back with a thick metalic rope and lifted her to her feet by the back of the shirt, chokingly. So much pain erupted in her upper body as they dragged her to the Cheif of police, placing the tip of their metal like dagger that projected from the inside of their sleave against her neck. Gritting her teeth against the pain, they stopped a few feet in front of the Chief of police and pressed the metalic dagger against her neck even more, nearly drawing blood.

"Chief, shall we take the life of this thief?" The metalbender holding her asked Cheif Lin Beifong. The Cheif, with her collar-length grey hair, tall figure and green eyes, stared her down, Korra's mind wondering what to do.

Just before the Beifong began speaking, s_he_ interrupted her abruptly. "Beifong, maybe it would be best if you simply locked her in the jail. The less blood loss, the better, isn't that right Beifong?" She asked, making Chief Beifong turn her attention to _her_. Both Beifong and Korra locked gazes and the Cheif turned her attention back to Zola.

Sighing, the Chief said: "I suppose the Avatar is right. The less blood shed, the better. Bring her to the prision." She turned her attention back to Tenzin "I suppose our conversation will be cut short. I'm off." Both Tenzin and Korra nodded and the metalbenders, the Chief and Zola began walking towards the prision.

As they walked, Zola's eyes fell upon the other orphan, standing in the distance. Their eyes widened when they saw the guards take her away.

This would be the last time she would see the other orphans, probably for the rest of her short life. The metalbeders took her away forcefully, making her sometimes cry in pain as the injury to her right arm flared in pain.

She looked ill and were they taking her away to a cold and damp cell. But… Korra had seen her again, but not in good circumstances. Maybe there was something she could do to help her. There had to be… Korra couldn't let her be killed by Bei-fongs metalbenders.

Korra was reunited with the theif… just not in the way she wanted to be.

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**Thank for reading! Pleae review! I need to know what you guy think about the story. I'm dying to know! =)**


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